Recall petitions to be submitted

hRecall petitions to be submitted

RACINE, Wis.

Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will submit a mountain of petition signatures today demanding his recall, and in anticipation, the embattled Republican has flooded airwaves with ads highlighting his stewardship in creating “thousands of new jobs.”

It is a claim at once correct and misleading, federal jobs data suggest, underscoring how the drive to dislodge Walker is shaping up as both a fact-challenged slug fest and a pre-presidential election proxy for competing economic visions in a sharply divided land.

Democrats have been as quick to inflate the magnitude of job stagnation as Walker has been to paint an unduly rosy portrait.

In little more than a year in office, Walker has become one of the nation’s most polarizing figures.

He is adored by the tea party but reviled by Democrats and unions for austere policies that he said would restore prosperity: the gutting of collective-bargaining rights for public workers and spending cuts for schools and other programs, but tax breaks for business.

Al-Qaida in Yemen captures town

SANAA, Yemen

A band of al-Qaida militants took full control Monday of a town 100 miles south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, overrunning army positions, storming the local prison and freeing at least 150 inmates.

The capture of the town of Radda expanded already significant territorial conquests by the militants, who have taken advantage of the weak central government and political turmoil roiling the nation for the past year during an anti-regime uprising inspired by Arab Spring revolts.

Authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently agreed to step down after months of resisting the protests against his 33-year rule.

But he remains a powerful force within the country and a spark for ongoing unrest.

Snowshoer found alive, official says

SEATTLE

A 66-year-old snowshoer who had been missing on Mount Rainier since Saturday was found alive Monday afternoon by a team of three rescuers, a national park spokeswoman said.

Yong Chun Kim, of Tacoma, Wash., was alert and conscious, and was cold but otherwise stable, park spokeswoman Lee Taylor said.

Weather conditions prevented a helicopter from landing in the area, and rescuers were bringing in a Sno-Cat snow vehicle to carry him out — hopefully by Monday evening, she said.

Kim, who has been snowshoeing for a decade, was well equipped for a day of snowshoeing but didn’t have overnight gear.

Associated Press